CBC News - Health - Horse virus death may be 1st in N.S.

CBC News - Health - Horse virus death may be 1st in N.S.

Nova Scotia appears to have its first case of a mosquito-borne virus that is almost always fatal to horses and in rare cases can kill people.

A case of Eastern equine encephalitis virus has been confirmed in a horse in southwest Nova Scotia, an official with the provincial Department of Agriculture said Monday.

Rob Kerr, a department veterinarian, said the horse was put down.

"It was acting oddly, according to the owner and the veterinarian," said Kerr. "It wasn't drinking water. It had some slight tremors."

The virus cannot be spread directly from horse to horse. Mosquitoes pick up the virus by feeding on infected birds, then pass it on when they feed on the blood of horses.

"There's a slight possibility it could be picked up from the horse by mosquitoes and then spread to other animals, but that's apparently very uncommon," said Kerr.

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